What 📔book are you reading right now?

[Ithrynluin]

I'm kind of conservative when it comes to reading other fantasy authors/series, and have been holding off reading Martin's saga despite the rave reviews by many, many people. So you'd definitely recommend it, chrys?

 

[chrysophalax]

Most definitely! I am beyond picky sometimes when it comes to fantasy. I refuse to read something if I think its a Tolkien imitation, since I think no one can write the quest like JRRT.

This, however, is not a queststory. Its a story for those who like court intrigue, mysteries, nobility and treachery of the most vicious sort. He takes no prisoners, this author and the reader is the better for it. Plus...it has Dragons!

 

[Illuin]

Still trying to get through this “Pillars of the Earth” thing by Ken Follett. If I’m trying to “get through” a book; it means I should not have started it in the first place. I think I’m just going to go back to my Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader until enough time passes to start on Tolkien again.

 

[Firawyn]

Ithy, I also recommend SOIAF series, if my opinion counts. It's amazing.

Blackstar, I did know that HBO bought rights to it - do you know anymore than that? I've already started thinking about casting. Ohh...I'm very excited.

At Chrys, yes, Dragons are good....and they play more of a role in the later books. You'll have to catch up by the time "A Dance of Dragons" comes out (the next book)...I imagine that will really be about the Dragons.


GOSH GUYS! Now I'm going to have to pick those up again!

 

[Turgon]

I seem to have hit a wall with asoiaf - stopped reading halfway through A Clash of Kings as it had begun to annoy that the plot seems to be driven by the stupidity of its characters. It also worried me that the only characters I gave a damn about anymore were Tyrion and Jon. It's a bit of puzzler as I loved the first book and the first half of the second...

 

[Firawyn]

Turgon,

I think ASOIAF is about human nature. There's no "good", no "evil", just humanity. I think that makes in an incredible read, as it forces readers to look at what they would have done, or how they would have reacted to those situations.






PS...Turgon, you're up in "Guess the pic!" Prince is getting bored of waiting. Go post!

 

[Starbrow]

I read A Game of Thrones in the SOIAF series and I didn't really care for it. As someone else said it's pretty bloodthirsty and it seemed to get old. I was interested in what happened to the characters and I'm tempted to read the next book, but all the characters I like will probably die.

 

[Turgon]

I can't really see how asoiaf is about human nature - even on my darkest days (and I have quite a few of these) I've never had such a bleak world view. I mean not everybody is a sociopath or a nutcase. Tolkien gets heavily criticised for his characters being too 'good' yet Martin seems to get nothing but praise for going the opposite route - a bit unfair to Tolkien I think.

I find it difficult to see asoiaf as not being about good and evil either - as to me good and evil are not something that you are - but something that you do. Asoiaf is full of people doing evil deeds - strangely with no other motivation than crazed sociopathy. That's not to say I don't think Martin is a good writer - quite the opposite I think he has a great gift for storytelling. Nor is it to say that I don't like asoiaf - I understand where Martin is coming from - like I said in my previous post - I've just hit the fabled wall of annoyance (a bit like the stairway to heaven - but it doesn't get played so much by would be guitar heroes). I am looking forward to being able to pick up the book again and being able to enjoy it for what it is. A really good read.

 

[HLGStrider]

I haven't read any of Martin's works, but my husband has. I mentioned that I'd heard a lot of mixed reviews on them when looking at them in a book store and that some people really hated them and he said that it was because they had a fairly realistic view of warfare and most people don't want to read about how it really is. As I said, I haven't read them so I can't comment on this, and it seems strange that my husband would draw a comparison between a fantasy epic and his own combat experience (which he really never talks about), but that's what he said so I thought I'd put it out there.

 

[chrysophalax]

Well, I'm glad to learn that two of my favourite characters survive that long. Thanks, Turgon! And I really like Tyrion as well, he reminds me very much of Yay.

 

[YayGollum]

I'll read the series when it's finished. Why sign on for the annoyance of waiting for new books to finally reveal answers? Craziness. Ah, at the moment, I am reading scanlations of manga on this computer thing, as ordered by some old college buddies. Eh. They're okay. I probably like the animes better because I knew them first. *hangs head in shame*

 

[Kementari]

IIluin, I enjoyed "The Pillars of the Earth" when i read it a few years ago. There were some rough patches tho ( its a VERY long book). And some accuracy problems too (a few anachronisms and a dumb sex scene iirc). A sequel year came out last year with a lot of hype surrounding it; my brother is currently trying to "get through it".

BTW. Has anyone here heard of Guy Gavriel Kay? He's a Canadian fantasy writer who actually helped Chris Tolkien edit the Sil. He's making an appearance at my university in a few days but i have never read any of his works.

 

[baragund]

I'm reading "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. It's blow-your-pepsi-out-your-nose funny!!

Ignatius Reilly is my new hero! Such a refreshing change from the Frodo Bagginses and the Aragorns and the Turin Turambars of the world...

 

[Firawyn]

I can't really see how asoiaf is about human nature - even on my darkest days (and I have quite a few of these) I've never had such a bleak world view. I mean not everybody is a sociopath or a nutcase. Tolkien gets heavily criticised for his characters being too 'good' yet Martin seems to get nothing but praise for going the opposite route - a bit unfair to Tolkien I think.

I guess it depends on how you view human nature. For me, personally, I think of human nature as predominently evil, thus seeing the carnavorous nature in these books didn't phase me. To quote another wondeful book - "Life is pain, highness, and anyone who says differently is fooling themselves."

Oh, Elgee, nice comparison. I hadn't quite thought of it that way before.

 

[Starbrow]

I've enjoyed several of Guy Gavriel Kay's books, especially The Lions of Al-Rassan. Some of his books, IIRC - it's been a while since I read his work, mix present time with other worlds.

 

[Turgon]

I've read some Guy Gavriel Kay too. The Fionvar Tapestry (It's a Trilogy) is about a bunch of Canadian students being transport to a fantasy world - I quite enjoyed it. Also read Tigana, which was a really good read too. Not read The Lions of Al-Rassan that Starbrow mentioned - but I've heard a lot of good things about it. He's definitely worth a read.

 

[Thorin]

I am reading Riptide again by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I am a big fan of their novels that have FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast. If you remember that awful movie from a few years ago, 'The Relic' with Tom Sizemore, it bastardized and destroyed the first Pendergast novel (Kind of like what PJ did to LoTR. ) Riptide is a stand alone novel separate from the Pendergast series.

I love books that have the same characters from one book to the next (Tom Clancy and Michael Slade's books are like that).

 

[Firawyn]

Anyone in here read the Midford Series, by Jan Karon? They are wonderfully refreshing. No swords, no crazy people killers, no sick and crazy criminals...I nice, mellow, interesting drama.

 

[Barliman Butterbur]

I just finished reading (for a Yelp book club) Selden Edward's The Little Book, a story of time travel, in which a son, father and grandfather find themselves — without having the slightest idea how it was done — back in time to 1897 Vienna, where there is an opportunity for one of them to kill a then 10-year-old Adolf Hitler...where the grandson has an affair with his own grandmother...where the son pours out his story to an unbelieving Sigmund Freud...and the grandfather murders his own grandson without knowing who he really is... Woohoo!

This book took the author 30 years to write. I recommend it, it's a mind-bender!

Barley

 

[Firawyn]

Wow. Barley, they call that a soap opera. Yay! I shall read that I believe.

You know, it's funny you mention Hitler, because I just watched a movie called Nuremberg (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208629/), which was about the Nazi War Crime Trials in Nuremberg (thus the title). It was really good. Based on a book that I have not read. I should do that...read that book I mean.